SFB 1288

The conference "Kuratorische Praktiken des Vergleichens" ('Curatorial Practices of Comparing') was organized by Britta Hochkirchen, principal investigator in the art history subproject C01. The participants were researchers and curators, often both in a double function, who address curatorial practices of comparing in their work in a variety of ways.

Besides 'classic' talks the conference participants also visited three exhibition venues in Bielefeld. The curators of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefelder Kunstverein, and Kunstforum Hermann Stenner talked about the practices of comparing in their current or upcoming exhibitions.
In this context Rebecca Moltmann and Jürgen Büschenfeld (subproject Ö) also introduced the SFB exhibition project "Ver//Gleichen". The participants then visited a location of the project and discussed its contents.

The double perspective of the conference concerning theory and practice of curating allowed for new insights and differentiation in regard to the practices of comparing. Focus areas of the talks and discussions were the difference of various curatorial practices (symmetries, 're-installation', 'third object'), the observer's positioning in relation to the objects of comparing (proximity vs. distance), the narratives created by the practices of comparing or the try to deconstruct as well as the intentionality or contingency of the curatorial practices of comparing in an exhibition. Moreover, the different specific examples enabled to discuss how it is possible to reflect on practices of comparing in the exhibitions themselves again and again.

Photos: Rebecca Moltmann